


Cayde's Message for Ikora

by PurpleArrowzandLeather



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Ouch, Sorrow, There's a reason he trusts her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-08-24 16:29:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16643711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleArrowzandLeather/pseuds/PurpleArrowzandLeather
Summary: Ikora's chest in Ace in the Hole was more a prophecy than a guess.





	Cayde's Message for Ikora

**Author's Note:**

> I thought about it and it made my soul hurt, so I wrote it.  
> Yes, I know it's short.  
> Enjoy! :)  
> I don't own Bungi, but I have a lot of pain to share.

- _Hi, Ikora. You know I'm making a bunch of these, right?-_

          Ikora runs a hand over her face, slumping down in her reading chair tucked into the corner of her room. She's been trying so hard not to cry, but hearing Cayde's voice again has set her down the same path all over again. 

- _I probably told you.-_

          She nods. "You did. I didn't know what for. I didn't understand."

- _I always gotta have the last word, and I'm... gonna be prepared for every possibility.-_

          Ikora curls up, wrapping her arms around her knees. The tears start to flow and her Ghost comes out to nuzzle her face. "Not now, Inara. _Please,_ not now."

- _But, to tell the truth? This one's the easiest to make._ -

          "Easy?" Ikora murmurs, a blanket appearing over her legs. She curls up it it, not wanting to move for the next hundred years. "What about this is easy?"

- _So long as we're bein' honest, I could never tell if you really liked me that much._ -

          She laughs, tears dripping down her face. "How could anyone not love you, Cayde? You were-" she breaks off, shoulders shaking as she buries her face behind her knees. "You were my only friend."

- _But, uh... well, if you did hate me, the feeling was_ ** _not_  ** _mutual._ -

          Ikora wipes her face, but the tears won't stop now. Her Ghost presses close to her chest and Ikora wraps gentle hands around her.

- _In fact- yeah, I'll say it- don't even mind that you killed me._ -

          That forces a laugh out of her, and it  _hurts_ to laugh in the face of his death. A part of her wants to stop the transmission and never finish it, but she knows that she cannot do that. If there was one thing Osiris taught her, it was to never quit. To never slow or waver because things are hard.

          But Cayde taught her  _why_.

- _If we threw down... first off, no one can blame me for losing._ -

          She laughs again, sorrow wringing the sound out of her as part of a sob. She wipes her hands down her face again, sniffling. She had always prided herself on her resolve and her ability to ignore what she was feeling to accomplish her missions, but now they are no help to her.

- _And, I know you'd be in the right._ -

          Ikora makes a low keening sound. "I don't-" her voice cuts off of its own accord. "I don't think I could ever have done it, Cayde."

- _So... thanks? I guess? You were a.... a good friend._ -

          "I'm glad you think so." she murmurs. "I, for one, am less certain."

- _Better than a guy like me could hope for, anyway._ -

          She presses a shaky hand to her forehead, a sob tumbling from her mouth. " _You deserved more. More than I was ever willing to give._ "

- _So, yeah. Thanks, Ikora. For everything._ -

          Her heart wrenches in her chest as if someone were ripping it out of her. She can't stop her crying now, her anger and her  _guilt_ swirling around in her chest like a threatening storm. She weeps for nearly an hour, curled in the safety of her home. The grief may just drown her, and like she's told  _so_ many Warlocks, she is tempted to succumb to its current like she does her power. 

          " _Replay it_." she manages.

          "Ikora...." her Ghost says gently.

          "You heard me."

          Inara hesitates, but soon enough, there's the static of a recording and Cayde's voice speaks to her again. 

          A little while after, when Ikora is sufficiently calmed, there's a knock at her door. Her Ghost informs her that it's Zavala. 

          Her anger is kindled against him. "Go away, Zavala."

          He knows better than to try again. She doesn't know how long it will be until she can forgive him. She almost feels bad. She's certain that Cayde had recorded one for Zavala as well, and he most likely listened to it around the same time. She can't bring herself to hurt for him when hurting for Cayde seems to be so much more important. She wonders what could have been. What  _should_ have been. 

          Cayde never should have gone to the reef, but she can't help but feel that part of the reason he went is because Zavala was so determined to keep him in the Tower. Maybe then he wouldn't....

          It turns out that she still has more tears to spare. 

          She wonders briefly if it was because of her that he went, but his message speaks very well to that untruth. She wonders what Cayde would tell her. What he would say. And then she hears the end of the message that Cayde would want her to read between the lines to hear.

- _I wouldn't have it any other way._ -

          

**Author's Note:**

> "Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something."


End file.
